Cured non-woven mat of a mixture of fibers

Abstract

A coated fiber mat of improved tear strength upon dividing pieces of the coated mat and the coating is provided. The coated mat is a cured, non-woven mat including a mixture of fibers having different fiber lengths. The fibers contain a polysiloxane compound and are fixedly distributed in a binder.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. A cured, non-woven mat comprising a mixture of fibers having different fiber lengths, said fibers containing a polysiloxane compound, and fixedly distributed in a binder. 
     
     
       2. The cured, non-woven mat of  claim 1  wherein from about 0 to about 100 weight % of said fibers having a fiber length of from about 0.5 to about 60 mm, and from about 0 to about 100 weight % of said fibers have a fiber length of from about 10 to about 150 mm. 
     
     
       3. The cured, non-woven mat of  claim 2  wherein from about 20 to about 80 weight % of said fibers have a fiber length of from about 10 to about 45 mm, and from about 20 to about 80 weight % of said fibers have a fiber length of from about 30 to about 80 mm. 
     
     
       4. The cured, non-woven mat of  claim 1  wherein said fibers are glass, wood, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, nylon, Orlon®acrylic or mixtures thereof. 
     
     
       5. The cured, non-woven mat of  claim 4  wherein said fibers are glass fibers having an average diameter of from about 1 to about 100 μm. 
     
     
       6. The cured non-woven mat of  claim 1  wherein said fibers are present in an amount of from about 50 to about 95 weight %, said polysiloxane is present in an amount of from about 0.001 to about 20 weight % and said binder is present in an amount of from about 5 to about 50 weight %. 
     
     
       7. The cured, non-woven mat of  claim 6  wherein said fibers are present in an amount of from about 65 to about 90 weight %, said polysiloxane is present in an amount of from about 0.01 to about 10 weight % and said binder is present in an amount of from about 10 to about 35 weight %. 
     
     
       8. The cured, non-woven mat of  claim 1  wherein said binder is formaldehyde type binder containing between about 0.1 to about 20 weight % of a crosslinked styrene/(meth)acrylic polymer binder modifier. 
     
     
       9. The cured, non-woven mat of  claim 8  wherein said formaldehyde type binder comprises formaldehyde and a compound selected from the group consisting of urea, phenol, resorcinol, melamine and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
       10. The cured, non-woven mat of  claim 9  wherein said compound is urea. 
     
     
       11. The cured, non-woven mat of  claim 8  where the styrene/(meth)acrylic polymer is crosslinked with a polyfunctional nitrogen-containing crosslinking agent. 
     
     
       12. The cured, non-woven mat of  claim 1  wherein said polysiloxane is a polyalkylsiloxane. 
     
     
       13. The cured, non-woven mat of  claim 12  wherein said polyalkylsiloxane is polydimethylsiloxane. 
     
     
       14. The cured, non-woven mat of  claim 1  wherein said mat is a roofing material and is coated on at least one surface with asphalt. 
     
     
       15. The cured, non-woven mat of  claim 1  wherein said mat is a glass mat employed in a roofing shingle.